The Challenges of Adverbs in Spanish Translation V

This article will examine some of the more common challenges posed when translating demonstrative adverbs into Spanish. Spanish translators must remember that the demonstrative adverbs ‘aquí´ and ‘acá´, which mean ‘here´ and ‘allí´, ‘ahí´, ‘allá´, which mean ‘there´, cannot be used as substitutes for each other.

During Spanish translation, translators must be able to distinguish between the difference in usage of ‘aquí´ and ‘acá´. Both refer to a place or location that is in the vicinity of the speaker or the subject, but ‘aquí´, unlike ‘acá´ cannot be used with a verb of motion. ‘Records are sold here´ will be translated into ‘Aquí se venden discos´ but ‘Paco, ven acá´ will be translated into ‘Paco, come here´.

‘Ahí´, ‘allí´ and ‘acá´ are used to refer to gradually increasing degrees of separation from the speaker. The increase in distance is accompanied by an increasing indeterminacy about the location itself. ‘Ahí´ refers to a specific location relatively close to the speaker. The Spanish translation of ‘Put the suitcases there´ will be ‘Ponga usted las maletas ahí´.

‘Allí´ refers to a specific location that is physically at a distance from the speaker. Hence, ‘Oaxaca is in the south of Mexico. My cousin lives there´ will be translated into Spanish as ‘Oaxaca está en el sur de México. Mi primo vive allí.´ ‘Allá´ refers to an indefinite location at an indefinite distance. It is used with verbs of motion. For example, ‘I´d like to go there, where life is better´ will be rendered in Spanish translation as ‘Quisiera ir allá, donde la vida es mejor.´

The Spanish expression ‘el más allá´ corresponds to the English expression ‘the great beyond´ or ‘the other world´. Thus, ‘Perhaps we will see each other in the other world´ can be translated without hesitation into ‘Quizás nos veamos en el más allá.´